Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden is The Narrator's split personality. He was created by the perfect storm of the Narrator's insomnia-induced insanity and his frustration with a hollow life of wage-slavery and consumerism. He is the manifestation of the completely free man the Narrator wishes he could be. In the novel, Tyler and the Narrator first meet after the Narrator falls asleep on a nude beach. But Tyler only fully comes forward after Marla Singer starts showing up at the Narrator's support groups, causing his insomnia to return. At this point in the film version, Tyler and the Narrator meet for the first time on a plane. Tyler worked several night jobs. Partly to fund himself while engaging in general subversion, but also to set up situations enabling him to blackmail his employers later. In addition to his jobs, Tyler made soap from human fat, which he collected from dumpsters behind liposuction clinics. He sold this soap to fancy department stores. The soap also functioned as a source of materials for homemade explosives. It's likely that Tyler was busy setting all of this up during the time the Narrator was attending the groups and was sleeping through the night (he thought he was, anyway). This would also be when he bought the Paper Street House under the Narrator's name. By the time the Narrator's insomnia returned, Tyler had already firmly established himself in the world behind the Narrator's back. Throughout the story, Tyler attempts to forcefully guide the Narrator to enlightenment by encouraging him to hit bottom. He wanted to gradually destroy the Narrator's empty, societally-programmed self, causing him to become more and more like Tyler. If he had succeeded, there would have no longer been any distinction between the Narrator and Tyler, and the split "Tyler Durden" persona wouldn't have been needed anymore. But by the end of the story, Tyler realized that he failed. The Narrator remained strongly opposed to Tyler's goals, and viewed Tyler's attempt to free him(self) as a hostile takeover of his mind. He felt that Tyler wanted to kill and replace him like some kind of sci-fi doppelganger. He never reached the full understanding that Tyler Durden was his real personality, while the one he percieved as himself was actually the fake. Goals and Ideals Tyler Durden set forth to dissolve societal programming, attack consumerism, and upset the established social order. His overarching goal was to accelerate the collapse of modern civilization by working from the inside out. This was to be done in three stages: #Freeing minds from societal programming - and forming a large-scale underground "army" - by setting up a network of Fight Clubs around the country. #Physically destroying key aspects of modern society, particularly lynchpin structures which held the American economy together (such as credit card companies). This was done using groups which Tyler had evolved from Fight Clubs into Project Mayhem cells. #Allowing Project Mayhem to dissolve, leaving groups of fully-developed, free-minded men who could then go forth and do as they will. But the story ended long before this point was reached. This has led to some critics wrongly claiming that Tyler Durden was a cult leader who demanded blind obedience - which would also make him a hypocrite, considering his stated ideals. Tyler's ideals seem to combine elements of Neo-Luddism, Anarcho-Primitivism, Buddhism, and esoteric spirituality (such as G.I. Gurdjieff's Fourth Way), with a strong anti-consumerism theme throughout. He frequently spoke of his opposition to popular culture, materialism, capitalism, most technology, and modern society in general. Tyler described his ideal world as an Arcadian paradise, humans living freely amongst post-apocalyptic urban ruins. Memorable Quotes *"Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions." *"It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." *"The things you own end up owning you." *"I want you to hit me as hard as you can." *"The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you do NOT talk about Fight Club." *(after noticing the Narrator pull a bloody tooth from his mouth) "Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart."